OWL Year, Quidditch, and Secrets
by Summer Daydream
Summary: Chloe Thompson, a fifth year transfer from America comes to Hogwarts. With best friend Katie Bell, Chloe meets many interesting people at her school...including one Oliver Wood. Will Chloe and Oliver fall in love or are the destined to be just friends?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One You too! 

Chloe Thompson yawned and sat up slowly in her bed, tracing patterns on the bedspread that were made by the early morning sunlight. The smell of pancakes lingered in the air. It was Saturday, and Chloe's father always cooked the same thing. Chloe leaned back, thinking about her friends in America, wondering how they were doing. Probably getting ready to go back to the Salem Academy, she thought bitterly. I have to go to Hogwarts where I have no friends. Before she could get too angry at her parents for moving to England (during her O.W.L year no less!) her bedroom door exploded open and she was knocked over.

"Christian," she screamed. "How many times do I have to tell you to knock before you come in?" Chloe reached over and shoved her brother off the bed with all her might.

"I'm telling Mommy and Daddy on you," Christian replied. "You shouldn't hurt me because I am only five and very breakedable."

"You mean breakable."

"That's what I said, breakedable."

Chloe just rolled her eyes. There was just no arguing with Christian when he truly believed something. And besides, the word breakedable was kind of cute.

"Hurry up and eat with me, Chloe" Christian pleaded. "Daddy says we are going to Dragon Alley to get you stuff for your new school. I hope that there are really dragons there. That would be so cool. And maybe I can catch one and keep him for a pet and…"

The rest of this sentence was inaudible, as Christian was already bounding down the hall. Sighing, Chloe got up and washed her face in her bathroom sink. She brushed her long curly blonde hair and put on white eye shadow that set off her sparkling blue eyes. After changing into her white capris, pink tank top and white flip flops, Chloe ambled down the stairs where she was met by parents. Her father, covered in flour and what seemed to be egg shells, presented her with a stack of pancakes while her mother gave her a glass of juice.

"Ready to go get your stuff for Hogwarts, Chlo," asked her father happily. "I know that you will really like Hogwarts. I know it was hard for you to leave all of your friends back home, but you will make new ones."

"In case you haven't noticed, I have made a new friend. Katie Bell, from next door."

"I meant you will make new friends at school, Chloe. There is no need to be sarcastic."

"John!" Chloe's mother began, warningly.

"What, Sarah? She has to learn to get over it. She can owl her friends anytime that she wants. I could not help it if I was offered a job as an Auror here for more money."

"I'm going over to Katie's. Call me if you need me," Chloe said, and ran out the front door without waiting for a response.

When she got outside Chloe paused under a tree, and just thought. Why do you always start arguments about moving to England? Immediately, her thoughts drifted off to her friends in America. She thought of her old school, Salem Academy, and all of the fun times she had had. Especially the time when she and four of her friends snuck into the headmaster's room and…

"Hey Chloe, what's up?" asked a voice. Katie Bell, a blonde girl about Chloe's age approached her and interrupted her reverie.

"Nothing at all. You?" It was amazing how close Chloe and Katie had become. It was almost as if they were meant to be friends. They were already each other's best friends. Chloe wished that Katie was a witch too, so they could go off to Hogwarts together.

"Escaping the terrors," she said with a laugh. Chloe joined in. Katie's older brothers Ryan and Jason were hard on her, always picking on her. But Katie could hold her own with them.

"I have to go buy school supplies today," Chloe said with a grimace.

Katie laughed. "I have to do that today too. It will be nice to know I have everything all squared away and ready to go for tomorrow."

"Yeah, you are right. It will be a relief. Katie, you are the only friend I have in this whole country…why can't you go to the same school as me?" Chloe exclaimed suddenly, finally voicing her fear of the unknown.

"I understand how you're feeling. Really, I do." Katie began. "But don't you think you are overreacting a little bit. Everyone feels that way whenever they are thrown into a new environment, but when you came here you were able to make friends with me pretty easily. I wouldn't worry too much."

"I know, but it might be harder for me. Because I'm from America."

"Don't worry. Hey, your family is loading into the car. I'll see you when you get back." With that Katie sprinted into her house, making sure her brothers were not lurking in the bushes, planning some type of sneak attack.

An hour later, Chloe and her family were entering Diagon Alley, with Christian looking fervently around for dragons. Looking at the heavy yellow piece of parchment that contained her school list, Chloe directed her parents to a nice shop where she could get black robes. Slimming, she thought. After stocking up on potion ingredients, ink, quills, parchment, and a few joke products, Chloe and her family headed to the bookstore (Christian calling it 'Flowers and Boots'). After picking up her new books for potions, charms, transfiguration, arithmancy, herbology, ancient runes, history of magic, defense against the dark arts, and care of magical creatures, Chloe shuffled up to the counter. On the way up to the register, she bumped into someone, and spilled their books everywhere.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry" Chloe said quickly, bending down to help the person pick up their books.

"It's ok," the girl said. When the two girls straightened up, they looked at each other in shock.

"You too?" they exclaimed at the same time.

Katie and Chloe began to hug and giggle excitedly. "Chloe, do you know what this means? We are going to be in the same school, assuming you are going to Hogwarts."

"I am going to Hogwarts. What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor, it is the best house by far. Dumbledore himself was a Gryff. And we have the best Quidditch team, but that's because I'm on it." They squealed excitedly and hugged each other again.

"Get a room," said Ryan and Jason. Katie and Chloe stuck their tongues out.

The next morning Chloe awoke with a start. She already saw that her parents had drug her trunk downstairs. Quickly she showered, changed into her favorite muggle outfit (a short black mini skirt with black chunky shoes and a baby blue tank top), and ran down the steps at full speed.

"Much more excited about Hogwarts now that Katie's going to be there, aren't you," Chloe's mother asked.

"Yes, I am. At least I know I will have one person there to turn to."

"Well, eat up. Your father and brother are already in the car waiting for us."

A half an hour later, the Thompson family was pulling up at Kings Cross Station, looking around for platform 9 and ¾. At first, Chloe began to panic, as there was no platform 9 and ¾ to be found. Luckily, Mr. Thompson was told how to get onto the platform by his colleagues at the ministry. He motioned for his family to run towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Chloe felt a weird sensation and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, a scarlet train was tooting it's horn and she was on a platform with at least a hundred teenagers. Wide eyed, Chloe took in all of the details, from the gleaming train, to the hoots of owls, to the incredibly good looking guy talking to two red headed boys…

Wow, was he gorgeous. Dark haired with deep brown eyes, and a burly build. He totally looked as if he played Quidditch. Chloe could see his muscles through his shirt. She tried as hard as she could not to stare, but she couldn't help it. He was just so perfect. She saw him look over at her and she immediately looked away. When she chanced another glance in his direction, he wasn't there. She definitely was going to ask Katie all about that guy when she saw her.

"Hey Chloe, I was looking for you," Katie said as she came skipping up to her. I got us a compartment near the front. I want to introduce you to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They are all really nice people."

"Cool," Chloe said. "But Katie, who was the really hot guy talking to the two red headed boys?"

"Dark hair, dark eyes, and muscular with a Scottish accent?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Chloe, that is Oliver Wood. Every girl in the school knows who he is. But he never goes out with anyone. He is too caught up in Quidditch to even realize that he could have his pick of any girl in the school. Well, except for me. You know I already go out with Justin."

The two girls then entered the compartment. "Chloe Thompson," said Katie, "I'd like to introduce you to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Angelina Johnson (a tall black girl), Alicia Spinnet (a short girl with long blonde hair and green eyes), Fred & George Weasley (the red headed boys) and Oliver Wood."

Chloe was only half listening to the introductions, as she was too busy staring at Oliver. If she thought that this guy was gorgeous from far away, then up close he looked like a Greek god. It was all she could do to keep from drooling. She heard Katie say Oliver's name and realized that the introductions were over.

"Hi," everyone said at once, which elicited a round of laughter.

Chloe sat down next to Katie and right across from Oliver. Oliver smiled at her and said, "So what brings you to Hogwarts? You seem too old to be a first year."

Chloe flirtatiously smiled at him and said, "My father got a job in the Ministry. He's an Auror. I used to live in America. And you are right I'm not a first year, I'm a fifth year."

"So am I." Oliver grinned at her. "Do you know what house you are in?"

"Not yet. I am supposed to meet up with a Professor McGonagall and she is taking me to my house."

"Did you try on an old hat?" Oliver asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, when I met with Dumbledore to talk about transferring to Hogwarts. The hat said something that I didn't really understand and then Dumbledore said my head of house would lead me to the house table when I got to Hogwarts."

"You're a Gryffindor!" shrieked Katie. "McGonagall is our head of house!" The two girls hugged while Oliver smiled and looked intently at Chloe.

"Wood, do you have a staring problem?" Katie shrieked.

A very startled Oliver turned red and said, "If you must know, Bell, I was thinking of a new Quidditch play. We will need more of them to win the House Cup. We are getting too predictable."

"Sure," Katie said sarcastically. "We've become predictable. Which one of our eighty seven million plays do we use too often ? Jeez, Wood. The term hasn't even begun. Give Quidditch a break!" She rolled her eyes at Chloe, with a look that clearly said "What a loser!"

After that, time just flew by as the group chattered amongst themselves. Finally, Katie suggested that everyone change into their robes, which Chloe did grudgingly. She knew that the robes did nothing to flatter her figure, and for the first time in her life, her appearance was the only thing she could think about. Oliver couldn't see her dressed in something like this. She had to look…well, perfect.

"Chlo, snap out of it!" Katie walked up to Chloe and pulled her hair. "All the girls are wearing these so you will still look perfectly gorgeous for Oliver Wood."

"Shut up, Kate. That is not what I was thinking about. I was just thinking about what the robes would look like in a different color."

"You liar! Chloe, I know you want to look good for Oliver. You have a crush on him. Your first real crush! Awwwww!" With that Katie erupted into a fit of laughter.

"It's not my first real crush. It's my third."

"So you admit, you like him, don't you?"

"I think he's the most handsome guy ever and he has a good personality. But, you said he is too caught up in Quidditch to notice any girls."

Katie smiled. "Chloe, did you notice that he only mentioned Quidditch once during this entire trip and that it was obviously a cover up? He barely talked to the rest of us. Every question was directed at you."

"He was just being nice, Katie. I'm new and your friend. He was probably just trying to make me feel comfortable."

"Yeah, well we have to go, the train has stopped. We can discuss Oliver later."

The two girls exited the bathroom, talking now about Katie's insanely crazy brothers, when suddenly everything around Chloe went black. Someone had put their hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" said someone with an adorable Scottish accent.

"Hmm...Fred?"

"No. Try again."

"George?"

"One more guess."

"Well, I know its not Oliver. The hands over my eyes are way to small to belong to a Keeper."

"Hey," Oliver yelled, pulling his hands away. "What did that have to do with anything?"

"I was just kidding, Ollie"

"Since when do you call me Ollie?"

"Since you said on the train that it annoyed you," Chloe said sweetly, smiling up at him.

"Come on you guys," Katie yelled. "You can flirt later. I want to get to the castle to eat."

"We're not flirting!" Oliver and Chloe yelled together and ran off after Katie. But as they were running, Chloe couldn't help wondering if maybe Katie was right.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N This chapter intentionally jumps around. It is setting up many things that may happen later on in the story.

Chapter 2 Letters

Upon walking into a large entrance hall, a woman with square shaped glasses walked briskly up to Chloe, Katie, and Oliver. For a moment Chloe was afraid they were going to get reprimanded for being too loud, but the woman sharply gazed over all of them. She curtly nodded to Oliver and Katie and turned to Chloe.

"Miss Thompson, I presume? My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts as well as the Transfiguration teacher. I am also your head of house. I see you have found a few Gryffindors so I will let them show you around. Good day and welcome."

Chloe watched her retreating figure, in awe. "Does she always have such a sharp tone?"

"Yeah," Katie replied. "But she has got to be one of the most interesting professors here and her subject is definitely fun."

"Transfiguration? Fun?" Oliver looked confused. "I think the two must have been placed under some wizard's spell. But whatever, I am hungry. Let's go!"

Oliver grabbed Chloe and Katie's hands and pulled them away in the direction of what appeared to be the Gryffindor table. Once there, Chloe gazed up at a line of young children standing in front of the Great Hall. "Why are all of those kids standing in the front of the room? They look so scared and so cute."

Katie laughed. "They are really cute. They are first years waiting to be sorted. They are going to try on the hat that Dumbledore made you try on and figure out which house to be in. The only rule is that if someone is sorted into Slytherin, you do not clap."

"Oh, I get it. Thanks, I would have looked like a big dork."

"You mean you don't already look like a big dork?"

"Shut up, Ollie!"

"Both of you shut up!" Katie screamed. "You are acting like you are three years old or something." 

Katie's tirade was interrupted by Professor McGonagall reading the name 'Potter, Harry.' The Great Hall erupted in hurried whispers as everyone strained to get a glimpse of the Boy Who Lived. 

"I hope he's a Gryffindor," Oliver said. "I hear his father was one hell of a Seeker and we could definitely use him if he has even one eighth of James Potter's talent."

Chloe and Katie groaned and rolled their eyes. "Shut up about Quidditch!"

An hour later, the feast was over and Katie and Chloe had finally escaped Oliver's clutches and were walking up to the Gryffindor common room in a heated discussion about something.

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"Shhhh, Kate. Yeah, I am pretty sure. I kept thinking about it during the entire feast."

"But how?"

"I don't know how. I just think that I accidentally looked at my father's records and happened to see that he was under investigation."

"PASSWORD IF YOU PLEASE" shouted a loud voice right over their heads. Startled, Chloe screamed. 

Katie merely sighed and explained "Chloe, this is the fat lady. She is the entrance to our common room. The password is animagus. Don't pay any attention to the fat lady. She has the patience of a three year old. Kind of like you and Oliver" And with that the two scrambled into the common room, eager to continue their discussion.

Chloe awoke to the earth shaking beneath her. All she could think about was that she was in the middle of a terrible earthquake and needed to stand in a doorway in order to save herself. However, when she wiped the sleep from her eyes, all she saw was Oliver grinning mischievously at her.

"What the hell are you doing here? It is only five o'clock in the morning. You scared me half to death!"

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it Sweetums?"

"What?"

"This is your payback. I told you I didn't like to be called 'Ollie' but you kept doing it anyway. So now I'm going to wake you up every morning at five and call you Sweetums. And the punishment will only get worse if you keep calling me that name I don't like."

"What name?" Chloe asked innocently. "Oh, you mean 'Ollie'"

"GRRRR," Oliver growled. "I'm gonna get you. I can't figure out what I'm going to do yet, but just you wait"  
"Yeah, I'm real scared. Now get out of here now before you wake everyone up and we all kick your ass."

"Too late," groaned Katie.

"Way too late," mumbled Angelina.

Alicia didn't say anything. She just threw a pillow in the direction of the door and continued to sleep.

"Chloe, you really need to stop flirting with him. It's annoying!"

"Katie, you of all people know that I flirt with EVERYBODY! It's when I'm not flirting that you have to be careful. That's when I like the guy."

"You don't like Oliver?"

"No. I mean he is really good looking, but that's about it."

Chloe stood up, ending the conversation. She shuffled into the bathroom and took a shower. When she emerged, she found Katie still standing in the same place. In her hand was a letter adorned with an American flag design. "Open it Chloe!"

Two letters fell to the ground after Chloe tore into the envelope. She picked up the shorter of the two and squealed, "It's from Brooke. She is my best friend from Salem Academy." Chloe cleared her throat and began to read:

Chloe-Bear!  
We all miss you sooooooo much! This year is definitely not going to be the same. That evil bitch Rachael tried to room with us but don't worry, we told her she was not getting anywhere near us. Not after all the drama… Anyways, things here are exciting. Sarah and Patricia are here with me when I write this, and they want to tell you that they will be keeping an eagle eye on Ben for you. They will write you every day and tell you what he wore. But, on to more important things. We plan on carrying out the master prank that we planned during this school year and we want you to come. I'll be having a Muggle Sweet 16 birthday, so it is the perfect excuse to get your ass over HERE! Start bugging your mother and father so you can come. I'm in History of Magic and I better go because Hutchins is still a psycho. We love you (I love you the most, of course) and can't wait to see you.

Love, Brooke

"What's your master plan?" Katie, Angelina, and Alicia all exclaimed at once.

"Just a prank that we have been wanting to pull for a very long time. We never got around to it but we were going to do it this year. I guess we still are…if I can get my parents to let me go to Salem. In fact, if you guys want, I can let you guys get into it."

"Chloe, that would be awesome." Katie said. "Count me in."

"And me." (Angelina)

"And me." (Alicia)

"Chloe, don't forget about your other letter. I wonder who that one is from." Katie ventured. 

Chloe bent down and picked up the piece of parchment with a smile on her face. Suddenly, her face paled and she froze, with an astonished look on her face. "Guys, I need to read this one on my own. You guys can go down to breakfast. I'm not really that hungry."

Chloe ran to her bed and pulled the hangings shut. Her heart was beating so quickly it felt as if it were going to jump right out of her chest. She was sweating and her hands were trembling. 'Why would they write to me?' she kept asking herself.

Chloe,  
We didn't leave things on the best of terms. In fact, we left things painfully unresolved. I thought a lot about you this summer. It was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that we would not be going to the same school this year. It was even harder for me to realize that you were pulling away and I was losing my best friend, the most important person in my life. I mean, when you are dating someone for so long, you don't ever envision your life without them. I always pictured us together. Not just during school but when we are older. I want you to know that I am incredibly sorry for what happened. It didn't mean anything to me. I know you've heard this hundreds of times from me, but it's the truth. Chloe, I am miserable without you in my life. Things would be much more bearable if I knew that there was a possibility for a future together. I love you, Chloe, and I always will. Love always, Ben

Chloe looked down at the now tear-stained parchment. She was silently sobbing, trying to sort through everything in her mind. Ben still loved her, that was obvious. And she still had so much love for him. She hadn't even looked at another guy until Oliver Wood. They had been through so much and it had ended so quickly. Confused, Chloe picked up two pieces of parchment and began to write.

My Girlies,

I miss you guys too. I can't wait to be part of the master plan. I think I got us three more accomplices (yay!) and I don't think getting to America will be a problem. I'm great and this school is fabulous. I met a really cute guy (the first guy I have thought was cute since Ben) and he's fun but a little Quidditch obsessed. I think we can be FRIENDS. Ben sent me a letter too. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I want so badly to work it out. I have to go, but I love you all and take care. 

Love, Chloe

With a heavy sigh, Chloe picked up the second piece of parchment. She was dreading writing this letter.

Ben,

Your letter surprised me. I haven't heard from you for a while. I still have strong feelings for you too, but I don't know if anything could ever work between us. We live in different countries and given what happened when we were still in the same country, I don't know if we have enough trust. You hurt me so horribly. I gave you my heart and everything I had. Ben, you are and will always be my first love. But does first love always last forever? I can illegally hook up the Floo Network for tonight. Meet me in my common room at midnight and we can talk, if you are still interested in seeing if we can still have a friendship, at the very least.

Yours, Chloe

Chloe immediately summoned her owl, Merlin, and ordered him to fly to Salem as fast as he could. She knew that Merlin could get there before lunchtime and wanted to give Ben all the time she could for him to make a decision. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Torn

A tall sandy haired boy stared up at the sky as he walked across a sunny field. Around him, hundreds of other teenagers were milling about, talking, laughing, and gossiping. Everything seemed peaceful and serene, until a large object landed on top of the boy with a thud.

"God damn it, Andrew. Get off me NOW!"

"Ben, I did it for your own good. You have spent most of the time staring at the sky waiting for Chloe to write back to you. You have to get it through your thick skull that she HATES you. She is NOT going to write back to you. Now, can you please stop acting like a pathetic loser and give me my best friend back?"

"She might not hate me. I have known Chlo for my entire life and she can be forgiving. Maybe she will forgive me and..."

"And what," Andrew interrupted. "Take you back. Be yours again? Run all the way back here from England and tell you that she wants to be with you forever? Get with it, buddy. Come on, we have History of Magic."

"History of Magic, right." With one last longing look at the sky, Ben turned and shuffled off after his friend.

Chloe didn't feel like eating anything, but she knew she would face an inquisition if she just blew off breakfast entirely. Even though she had only known Katie for a few months, that girl knew everything and did not know how to let anything go. Sighing, Chloe ran down the stairs and entered the Great Hall, and ran right into Oliver Wood. 

"Oh, Ollie. I am so sorry I didn't see you there."

Oliver took a look at Chloe's face, where the paths that the tears had taken were clearly visible. He cleared his throat and looked her directly in the eyes. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

Chloe shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Damn it, Ben," she thought to herself. "Why do you always make me cry?"

"Chloe, do you want me to get Katie for you?" Oliver interrupted her internal monologue. 

"No, thanks though. I think I need to get something to eat." Without realizing what she was doing, Chloe turned to Oliver and wrapped him in a huge hug, with tears streaming down her face. Oliver held her, trying his best to be comforting. Chloe drew away and looked up at Oliver.

"I'm sorry. I got tears all over your robes."

"It's alright, Chloe. It'll dry. You should go find Katie. I have to go set up some new plays for the Quidditch team."

"Bye, Ollie."

Oliver turned and walked away. When he got halfway down the corridor, he sighed, stopped, and turned around. "Hey, Chloe!"

"Yeah?"

"If you want me to pound him, I will."

"Thanks, Oliver. I don't really know what I want, but the offer is a nice one."

Oliver grinned. "Just trying to be a knight in shining armor. Did it work?"

"Not even a little bit," Chloe laughed. "But you have potential." With that, Chloe, feeling much happier, flounced into the Great Hall to join Katie and figure out what to do.

Oliver was leaning against a post, watching her enter the Hall. "Do you hear that? I have got potential." he says to himself, before plodding off towards the Quidditch pitch.

"Oh my God, Chloe! What are you going to do?" Katie whispered over the drone of Professor Binns. Surprisingly, Katie had not interrupted Chloe once as she told her story and Katie was an excellent audience.

"I don't really know. I sent him a letter and said that we would talk through the fireplace in the Common Room tonight. I don't know if he is going to go for it, but I think we have some problems to work out. I mean, he WAS my best friend for almost my entire life. It's weird without him to talk with and joke with."

"Not that," Katie said, with a sigh of exasperation. "What are you going to do about your relationship?"

"We don't have a relationship, Katie. We don't even have a friendship. We have nothing at all."

"Will you ever tell me what exactly happened between you and Ben?" Katie asked. "It might help me understand the situation better."

"I hope you got time because it's a long story," Chloe whispered.

"We're are sitting in Binns' class. I have all the time in the world.

"Okay," Chloe said. "Here goes nothing."

"Ben and I were best friends growing up, probably because our parents were close. We were inseparable when we were younger and everyone used to joke how perfect we were together. We both got accepted to the Salem Academy and it was there that I met this guy named Jake. Jake seemed like he was a great guy on the surface, but he was really an asshole. He used to try to hit me and in a month, I had changed completely. Ben walked in one day and saw Jake pinning me against the wall and choking me. He flew in the room and kicked the shit out of Jake and took me away from it all. Then, a few months later, I started to have these feelings for him and on Valentine's Day of my first year, we started dating."

"Awww, he was like your hero," Katie cooed

Chloe ignored the comment. "We were together almost three years when I found out that I had to move to England. When I told Ben, he got really upset and left for a walk to clear his head. He was gone for a few hours and then I went to find him. I found him making out with this bitch, Rachael. I told him that I didn't ever want to speak to him again. Two weeks later, I finished school and moved to England. We didn't even say goodbye."

"Oh my God, Chloe. That sounds like it was just horrible."

"It wasn't fun," Chloe said with a half smile. "I still feel like I was the one to blame because I totally wrote him off for a mistake."

"Well, you have to ask yourself two things," Katie began. "First, you have to ask if you still feel anything for Ben. Secondly, you have to figure out if things would be different if you were still in America."

"I know things would be different, Kate. He never would've gotten upset and left if I hadn't had to tell him that I was moving halfway across the fucking world!"

"That may be true, but maybe that announcement just sped up the inevitable."

"I don't know. All I know is that I am leaving things open and seeing if he decides to meet up with me."

"Chloe, do you want him to talk to you?"

"Honestly, I do. I just hadn't wanted to admit it to myself."

An owl started tapping on the stained class window of a beautiful Victorian style mansion. The professor of the class pretended to ignore its presence, but the persistence of the owl paid off. Five minutes later, the Professor opened the window and the owl delivered a letter on the lap of a young man.

"Mr. Benjamin Kirkland! What on earth is so important that an owl had to interrupt my class?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Hutchins. I didn't even know that I was receiving an owl. I apologize. Can I excuse myself for a few moments?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kirkland. You want me to let you read your letter? Well, how about you sit and read it here in front of everyone."

"No, sir. I can wait." At least I hope I can, Ben thought to himself. It's from Chloe, I just know it is. I recognize the owl.

Fifteen minutes later, the rest of the class was filing out of the classroom, while Ben ripped open the letter. He read it quickly, frowning slightly. "Not what you expected," his friend, Andrew, asked him.

"Not really. She didn't take me back but she didn't blow me off completely either."

"Well, at least she didn't blow you off completely. Look at it logically. Did you honestly expect her to take you back just like that?"

"No, but I was hoping…"

"Loser," Andrew joked. "Look, now you only have two options; meet her through the Floo Network or don't. I have to run, I have detention in a half hour and I want to eat."

"See you later," Ben muttered as his friend left. He checked to see if anyone was around. He smiled. "I just might get my Chloe back."

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Chloe, Katie, and their Hogwarts friends. Chloe and the Gryffindor Quidditch team ate a picnic outside, with the twins torturing the Giant Squid. Eventually the squid grew tired of being tickled and spewed ink all over everyone. This caused a great "ink wrestling" match, with Chloe coming out as the victor, mostly because Oliver kept slipping down every time she got near him.

At quarter to midnight, only Katie and Chloe remained in the Common Room. Chloe was pacing around nervously and Katie was playing solitaire with a deck of exploding cards. Just as the clock struck midnight, Katie ran out of moves and the cards erupted in smoke, slightly burning her eyebrows. "I'm going to go wait for you upstairs, Chloe. Good luck, sweetie." Katie walked over and gave Chloe a hug and made her way up to the dormitory.

Chloe watched her retreating figure nervously. "Nice room. I like the colors." Ben voice sounded from behind her. Chloe quickly and subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair and turned. 

"Hi," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey, Chlo." Ben smiled at her briefly, before nervously staring at the floor. "How have you been?"

"I've been pretty good. I made some new friends. And I love this school, but I still miss Salem. You?"

"I've been keeping busy. Mom and Dad just bought a new swimming pool. Things at Salem are the same as always, except that you're not there."

"I didn't even think that you would miss me."

"Chloe, I have missed you since the day you stopped speaking to me. It killed me to see your family going to the Muggle airport, knowing that I was probably never going to see you again."

"If it hurt you so much, why didn't you do something about it?" Chloe asked, her eyes brimming with tears. 'Don't start to cry,' she said to herself. 'Don't you dare let him see you cry.'

"Because I was afraid to make things worse. I know you, maybe even better than you know yourself. If I would have come up to you and tried to say goodbye or apologize, you would've just stared at me and walked away. Admit it"  
"You're probably right," Chloe agreed. "I was so angry at you for the Rachael thing, and was so upset that you didn't even try to say goodbye"  
"Chloe," Ben began. "I did try to say goodbye. I followed you to the airport to try to make things right, but I had no idea what to do. I just stood there and watched the plane leave."

"Why did you do it?" Chloe asked, the tears finally spilling over.

"Why did I follow you to the airport?"

"No. Why did you...you.." Chloe trailed off.

"Kiss Rachael?" Ben finished, as Chloe nodded. "I didn't even know what was happening; it all happened so fast. One minute I was telling her about how upset I was about losing you, and the next we were kissing. I would love to tell you it was all her fault, but I honestly do not know how it got started. I just know that as it was happening, my brain was telling me to stop. And I was starting to pull away when you caught us. I know that doesn't make anything any better, but I need you to know that I was trying to stop it because I thought of you and the pain it would cause you…" Ben stopped his speech and began to cry. Chloe sat next to him on the scarlet couch.

"Ben," she began, but Ben cut her off.

"Chloe, I need to finish," he said through his tears. "I have loved you for my entire life. I don't know how to make things right, but if I did, Merlin knows that I would have done it by now. You mean the world to me, Chloe. I know that being a couple may be impossible, but I hope that we can be friends again. I miss you."

"I miss you too," Chloe said, crying equally as hard. "Ben, you hurt me so badly. I had silly visions of us getting married and having children. I never would have dreamed that you would do something like that. When I found out I had to move here, I was devastated, but then I realized that I could face anything as long as I had you. Then I didn't have you and my whole world came crashing down on top of me."

"I am so so sorry, Chlo-Worm," Ben whispered in her ear.

"You haven't called me that since we were little kids," Chloe whispered back.

"I know. I was going for the innocent act."

"Ben, we haven't been innocent for a long time."

"Very true." Ben reached for Chloe's hand. "Chloe, I have to be going back. What do you say? Can we at least be friends again?"

Ten minutes later, Chloe trudged upstairs to find Katie waiting for her.

"Well…" Katie asked.

"I can't believe it," Chloe said. "Katie, I kissed him. Not just a little kiss either, a full out 'I want you' kiss."

"Well, things have gotten interesting around here," Katie said with a smirk 


End file.
